Naira retrieves a black rag she'd found hanging from a rack that stands above the toilet. Wetting the rag with warm water, she gets down on her knees, and Denali begins licking her face excitedly.
"Ewww," she laughs as tears fall down her cheeks. "Stop. Sit down, Denali," she calmly commands, just as Credence did before her, and Denali sits down. As he stares at her, she wipes his mouth, pausing to pinch his cheeks. "Thank you for helping us out, baby. Please don't do that again. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you got hurt," Naira says as she kisses him on his head and tosses the rag in the bin. As she's helping herself up onto the large bed, she hears a loud knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" she yells softly as Denali barks and growls at the door. "Denali," Naira says in a warning tone, to which he responds by standing still, waiting to see who comes inside. Opening the door, she sees a casually dressed Rollo.
"Aye!" He says while walking into the room. His eyes fixed on her, squinting. "Why're you bleeding? Are you okay? Where's Creed?" he asks while looking around the room, a tinge of concern in his voice. Naira chuckles and wipes the blood away with her finger.
"It isn't my blood. It's Charlotte's."
"I'm in the bathroom bro," Credence calls out.
"Wait, what'd you do to Charlotte? Y'all jumped her or something?" Rollo asks with a confused half-smile.
"No, no, she just choked Credence, so Denali bit her," Naira laughs and explains as she walks toward Credence's bed.
"You bit Charlotte? That's what the fuck I'm talking 'bout! Come here boy," Rollo says with a loud laugh as he scoops Denali up like a baby while Denali licks his face. "You bit her in the ass, huh? Dassa good boi, dassa good boi," he continues as Denali's tail wags nonstop. He gently places Denali down and walks toward the bathroom doorway.
"I heard they're deploying you. That what all this is about?" Rollo asks as he rests his body on the bathroom door frame, looking at Credence, who nods, still focused on getting into his uniform.
"Damn," he says. "They're really doing it. You want me to ask if I can come with you?" he asks with his arms crossed, shifting his weight to the other leg.
Credence clicks his tongue. "Nah, it's good man. Imma just get this shit done as quickly as possible." He says shortly, earning a weak nod from his friend. "You know who's gonna be remote shadowing?" Credence asks from the bathroom.
Naira pays close attention, as she doesn't quite understand their terminology yet. She hears zippers and the clanging of metal coming from the bathroom.
"I don't know. But if I had to guess, it'd be Addy or that Wayra dude who shadowed you last time," Rollo replies.
"Wayra?" Naira chimes in, her eyes flying from the floor to Rollo. He turns his attention back to her.
"Yeah. He's the native dude with the braids, right? He really cool. Addy doesn't like me talking to him though," Rollo responds as he walks toward Naira and sits beside her on Credence's bed. Denali jumps into the bed and curls up behind the two, his face buried in Creed's black silk sheets.
"Yeah, he is. He helped me out a lot back when... uh, when everything happened," Naira replies, wanting to recall as few details as possible but certain she couldn't if she tried. Rollo stares at her with a reassuring smile and an understanding head nod.
"So," she breaks the silence. "Is he gonna be ok?" she asks Rollo quietly, looking down at her hands.
"Who, Creed? Man, hell yeah. And if he has Addy as his shadow, he's gonna be more than ok," Rollo answers, gently patting Naira on her back, making her smile as some of her fears have been washed away.
YOU ARE READING
Pondbell: Coldblooded (Ongoing)
خيال (فانتازيا)"If I'd just killed him when I first met him, if I had warned her just in time, how many lives would I have saved? How much heartache could have been prevented?" What would you do if you were living in a world where werewolves, vampires, elves, merf...
